I don't believe there was ever a hard definition for that. Based on what tends to do best, though, you can get a pretty good idea of what people consider a premium domain. Short domains, one-word domains, easy to spell, memorable, relevant to the current zeitgeist. I'd say those are all good qualities, premium even.
At the end of the it though though, a premium domain is only really worth what a buyer is willing to shill out (save for a trend or some fringe example where a word or phrase becomes so relevant that making a site out of it suddenly sounds like a shrewd business move. This varies wildly.) A domain that's practically worthless to one person could be extremely valuable to someone else.